One Liberty Left
by HayashiOkami
Summary: Go is an ancient and psycological board game, its players intense with their rivalries- so intense that one takes it to murder- and the BAU is called in. Reid must uncover the truth from one such individual before an international disaster occurs.
1. The Intricacies of Black and White

_**One Liberty Left**_

_**Chapter 1:**__ The Intricacies of Black and White_

"_Go uses the most elemental materials and concepts- line and circle, wood and stone, black and white- combining them with simple rules to generate subtle strategies and complex tactics that stagger the imagination____" (Iwamoto Kaoru)_

* * *

_The scene would appear gruesome and unorganized to the inexperienced. The experienced would understand that something terrible but grand had taken place. Those with the eyes of life would understand the tight battle that had been played and appreciate it for all it was worth. Outsiders would never understand their world displayed here._

_The heavenly bodies dispersed across the board into the corner marked only with death. The mockery that began the match was a grisly testament. There was no doubt that the passion and respect for the game had not waned. What was lost was the respect for the opponent and self and the rigid rules that commanded them all. They had forgotten their mortality and lost sight of their true goals, and of the lonely road that everyone followed into eternity._

_The other players had no need of such an immense distraction. Their futures and honor and pride rested within the coming week. The single sacrifice that amateurs d__id not recognize would need to be executed with grace so that the others might live._

_The divine had no rightful place in this troublesome quarrel of mortals. Mortals that lost themselves to the darkness had no right to search for the divine. Such heavenly beings that commanded them and granted them life needn't see such sadness. With the curtains drawn and doors secured, he accepted his fate with a quiet resignation and understanding. The honorable act was to admit defeat before humiliation. That final thought in his head, he departed._

* * *

Spencer Reid was reminded of an afternoon almost one year ago that he had all but dismissed. The detour he took and the child he played against became clear again. He remembered that bright smile and promising future he had seen, accompanied by the hard demeanor of someone far beyond their years. The loss didn't matter as much as the opportunity to see that innocence and passion. There was much to learn about the world, things that even Reid had yet to experience, and that afternoon had been one of them. This time, the situation would be a grim lesson.

"The US Go Congress is an annual event held for competitions for the board game called go. The tournaments started yesterday at Colorado University and already two players have been murdered. The American Go Association is keeping this quiet, so we have to work undercover. They were kind enough to make room to accommodate us at the site," JJ explained as she shuffled files around and displayed photographs on the laptop. The high priority and short time limit meant that the team had to do the briefing on the plane to Colorado.

"These are the two victims- Wen Mah, twenty-four years old, and Ken Hamasaki, twenty-six years old. They're both American citizens with Asian descent. That's one reason why the AGA wants us to solve this, and fast. Players from South Korea, China, and Japan as well as Canada and some European countries came here for the tournaments. There could be an international disaster if one of the representatives is murdered." The severity of the case had just grown tenfold and Reid had already suspected such in his mind. When the plane landed, they would have to get straight to work.

The two manila folders JJ presented pictured two men, definitely of Asian descent. They lived in completely different parts of the country and besides the game, the only other connection they had was that they attended the same tournament. Of course, that was only the surface of it all. "Garcia is doing background checks on them. There are roughly three hundred people at the convention, so we're going to need to narrow it down a lot. We're sure that it's the same killer, if you would take a look at the crime scene photos. Here are the pictures taken of the bodies." Two photographs, eerily similar were beyond the first pages of the folders. The crime scenes were almost identical.

"The cause of death is probably from bleeding out," JJ told them, a little grim about the sight. Reid couldn't blame her; even after all the cases that passed through her desk on a daily basis, she still felt sympathy. The victims both had a single, large horizontal cut across the abdomen that wasn't actually too deep- just enough to keep them alive until they bled to death. There were signs of a struggle, but no other injuries. "Both bodies were found by other attendees, who have been asked to keep quiet about the incidents. They will both assist everyone in the investigation as they're some of the few who have access to the entire place. The organizers of the events can't afford to break routine."

"Understandable given the circumstances, but they _will_ be meeting us there?" Hotch said in the cold composure that was characteristic of him. Instructions on their plan of action were on the tip of his tongue. JJ answered in the affirmative and took her seat, the signal for Hotch to start his orders. "JJ and I will talk with the officials of the tournament and get as much from them as possible, and we'll contact the families. After that, we'll meet the rest of you at the rooms in the University. Prentiss and Rossi work on victimology and start the profile. Morgan and Reid go directly to the two crime scenes. Reid, you know more about this game than we do…?"

"Oh, yeah, I do," Reid said in his usual stutter after a moment of realization that he was supposed to talk. "Go is an ancient board game that originated in China and later spread to Korea and Japan, but it was Japan that introduced it to the West. Ironically, Korea has had better success in recent years than the other two countries. It's disputably considered the oldest and most difficult games in history, but its rules are surprisingly simple. The world of the professionals is highly competitive, especially among East Asian players."

"Competitive enough to kill, apparently…" Prentiss muttered, flipping through the victims' files. Reid nodded and again recalled the expressions of that boy from a year ago. Even at such young ages people took a serious interest in the game. The pressure that society placed on those children was immense and it followed them through adulthood and through their entire careers. What the team needed to understand was what happened to their unsub to change his competitive edge into the desire to murder. "Then we need to find the person who is overly competitive among the three hundred or so people there."

"Actually, that's not exactly right," Reid interrupted. If they weren't careful about this, they could be stuck chasing down suspects that had nothing to do with the case. "Everyone that plays this game is likely to be extremely competitive to the point that everyone would fit that profile. We need to narrow it down more, to the specifics. This game is like…football or basketball. Everyone involved takes it seriously to the extreme. Even children learn the game when they're still toddlers…"

"Alright then, the plane is landing soon. We all know what we're doing and looking for? Remember, work as fast as possible and miss nothing," Hotch said, glancing about the plane. The clouds outside were dispersing fast and the team fastened their seatbelts as the metal contraption descended. Despite the long distance between Virginia and their various crime scenes, Reid felt that each ride was shorter and shorter these days. The anxiety in his stomach only ever seemed to increase. He swallowed the remaining water in his cup before turbulence hit, but if anything he felt worse afterwards.

There wasn't much time to sightsee, which was a shame since the landscape was so pleasant. Reid wound up recalling everything he could about go while Morgan drove down the traffic filled roads to the University. The excess information that didn't pertain to the case must have driven Morgan insane because he interrupted Reid a few times. The genius didn't mind the routine; he admitted to getting carried away often. There were just so many statistics that he remembered which probably didn't help any.

"Okay, that's nice and all, but do you know a faster way to the campus?" Morgan said after Reid had gone on another tangent, his voice teasing and serious as it always was. Today they had to drive an undercover car, meaning that they didn't get any special pardon on the road for being FBI. Even the FBI car wouldn't have helped much with the traffic though. The drive would normally take about thirty minutes, but if they were lucky they would arrive before an hour had passed.

"Austin Bluffs Parkway is a straight road and we're already on it, so no, there's no quicker way," Reid said with a helpless shrug. Morgan grumbled and blared the horn, not that it moved the cars in front of them any. The digital clock showed a bright green ten and for the moment, Reid pulled out the files again. "The unsub is definitely organized. He planned everything to work the way he wanted it. The placement of the objects around the room doesn't seem to be random either. We'll get a better feel for it once we're there, though."

Forty-five minutes later found Reid and Morgan scanning the parking lot for a space and out into the Colorado heat. After a search through the files for a map and a few wrong turns, they wound up standing in the foyer of the apartments. There was hardly anyone here at this time of day. The participants were in other parts of the campus in the tournaments. For the moment, they had the place to themselves.

Before the team spilt at the airport, JJ had informed them that two participants that discovered the bodies had dropped out of the competitions to assist them with the investigation. Only Reid really understood to some extent how much of a sacrifice that was to them. They studied their entire lives to compete and that chance was ruined this year. There were other competitions, but the US Open was a large tournament, especially for Americans. The two people were Shiro Minami, a fifteen year old Japanese boy, and Shui Liu, a twenty-one year old American born Chinese. JJ was informed that they would meet the agents in the apartments.

There was some surprise among the team that the Congress was allowing a fifteen year old to assist them in their investigation. Reid's best guess was that he was extremely mature for his age and somehow, his parents were okay with the arrangement. Neither of his parents had attended, which Reid found strange considering Shiro Minami was from Japan. They sent their child all the way to America with his peers and other go players and still they would allow him to get involved in an FBI investigation. The young man had come to the convention with his friends and gladly extended his help, on the other hand.

True to their words, Reid and Morgan spotted two boys ahead, near the stairwell. They weren't talking to each other, although that might have been due to the language barrier. Reid really hoped that Shiro Minami could speak passable English. Languages were the only things that Reid wasn't very good with speaking, as Prentiss had proven before. He knew less about Japanese than Spanish. There could be a slight problem if they couldn't understand the boy.

"Oh, there they are- you're the FBI agents, right?" said the older boy, Shui Liu. Notably, he kept his voice low enough so that anyone that happened to pass them couldn't overhear. Reid couldn't detect any irritation or anger from his voice, which was a good sign. It wouldn't bode well for them if their 'helpers' were angry at them for ruining their chances to play in the tournament. Shui seemed okay with the situation- he was calm and attentive. Shiro Minami was less outgoing, if a little sulky. He didn't meet them in the eyes immediately.

"Yeah, I'm agent Derek Morgan and this is Doctor Spencer Reid. You two are Shui Liu and Shiro Minami?" Morgan said with a nod as he moved to shake hands with Shui. There was a pause when he stopped before Shiro, who stared at the offered hand in confusion. Reid moved forward to explain to Morgan the difference in customs and saw that Shui was trying to tell the same to the younger boy beside him. He watched them carefully, thinking that he had better find out whether or not he could speak English sooner rather than later.

"He means _nice to meet you_; the handshake is the…American form of a bow," Shui said as he went through the motion of a polite bow. Shiro nodded his head slowly and muttered, '_nice to meet you_' as he stretched his hand. Reid only recognized the words because he recalled some of the brochures he'd read over the years. Beyond simple phrases, he would be rather lost. Even though he hadn't gotten to that point yet, he was gracious when Shui addressed them about it. "Sorry about that. Shiro sorta knows English, but he's a little dense to our customs. Don't let him fool you though, because he can speak English."

Shiro shot the older boy a glare that wasn't done so much out of malice as it was of friendliness. "It's fine. Now, the crime scenes…?" Reid said. His mind was back on track after the little exchange. They needed to act fast, after all. There was no time for dawdling about customs and languages, as interesting as the conversations often grew. Shui seemed to realize that they were in a hurry too, because he nodded and without another word, took the lead upstairs. They were probably about halfway there when he started talking.

"They had to clean the rooms and they took away Mah's body already. The detectives are stopping by for Hamasaki's body soon, but we took pictures so it should be okay. That is okay, right? We couldn't afford to let everyone else know, so they just think that they felt like ditching the tournament," Shui explained. Judging by the change of his tone of voice, Shui was a little nervous and insecure about the ordeal. Being older than Shiro, he probably felt that he should be the responsible one. Besides his voice, there was no other indicator that he was upset, which Reid had already anticipated.

"That's just fine; you two did a good job. There could be mass panic if the public knew. You'll just have to keep quiet for a little longer," Morgan said in a reassuring tone. Shui offered a small, thin smile and nodded, but he obviously wanted to say something else. Reid caught the signs of him physically biting his tongue and subtly pointed it out to Morgan. With a nod, Morgan addressed the young man. "Still worried?"

"What- oh, no, it's not that. I'm sure that you'll do your jobs well. I was just…oh, never mind; it's silly," Shui said lightly as he came to a stop before a locked door. He withdrew the key and with baited breath, drew the door open. The sickly sweet smell of floral aerosol spray and an under layer of bleach assaulted their noses. Overall, it wasn't one of the worst smells they had faced, so they stepped inside the doorway swiftly.

"Well, it might seem silly, but it might actually be really helpful to the investigation, even if you don't think so now…" Reid said as he observed the room. The papers that were strewn across the floor were in heaps, but the go board that he'd seen in the photograph was untouched. The stones also seemed to be in the same order. On instinct, he moved forward and knelt beside the piles and started to skim through the papers. The numbers on the grid confused him for a moment before he realized that it was a game record. The languages varied from English to Korean to Chinese to Japanese.

"Always continue the games, no matter what," Shiro said quietly as he stepped into the room. Concerned for a moment about his emotional state, Reid focused on him. There was a certain, fixed tone in his voice that was stubborn and at the same time certain that it was right. "Once, bullets hit the rooftops and they continued playing go in a title match for the _Honinbo _during World War Two. Later, kilometers outside the city, the payers were blasted off their feet when the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. They continued to play and picked up the _go-ban_ and stones.

"The murders will upset everyone's friendliness with each other, we are more concerned about. We go players trust each other in the game- what would happen when we cannot do that?" Shiro finished as quietly as he started. The information was startling- yet not at all too surprising when Reid thought about it. A silent message was passed between Shiro and Shui, who moved towards Morgan and the corpse of Ken Hamasaki. The two started to discuss the wounds and the area of blood splatters that the photographs depicted. "Should we start?" the Japanese boy asked, pointing to the game records.

"You have a very deep insight to the game and life in general," Reid said as he motioned for the boy to start sorting the papers. For the moment, he made four piles, one for each language featured. He recognized some of the English matches from years ago and stored the information away for future reference. "Most people wouldn't think what you thought first. Many people would freak out, finding this…and there would be panic from the start. You don't seem panicked. You seem rather calm about this all."

"Go takes different meanings for the players. We understand that to panic is to lose the game- it makes all the difference. We walk the same path and aim for the same goals. It is not something that other people really understand. People look at us and say, 'they waste their lives on a game', but go is not just a game." Shiro glanced up from the papers with a perplexed look on his face. Without giving time for a response, he continued, "These _kifu_, this way- why do you organize them? These are professional games, amateur games, famous games, shameful games…They should be organized like this." Shiro sorted the papers again, disregarding language.

"I know that each player's style is different, but how can you tell if an amateur played against another amateur or a pro? How do you know it's not a new pro against an amateur?" Reid asked. He was more curious than anything else and it must have taken the boy by surprise, because he stopped and blinked, perplexed for a moment. When he was composed again, Shiro picked a select few game records from the piles and laid them out.

"Hey, Reid, I know that you think that stuff's all very interesting, but we're on a time restraint here," Morgan called from across the room. Reid frowned and broke into a grin at the teasing. There must have been significance as to why the unsub chose these game records to display and if this fifteen year old could understand that right off the bat, Reid was willing to listen. He planned on analyzing them later, but that might actually take more time than this. He waved a free hand at Morgan and shuffled over to see the records. Some were printed from the computer, some torn from books.

"It was written that 'Amateurs' go comes from pleasure, professionals' go comes from suffering'. It shows in the play of the moves- even in the game of a _shodan_. We work very hard to reach professional status and we follow a road that never ends. To strive for that, the way we play is very different, but I do not have words for it," Shiro said, contemplative as he fingered the papers. Reid didn't follow completely, but he caught the marks of sorrows and hardships in the young boy's eyes. "This game- both players are desperate to win. Time spent on moves is great, especially here. They are looking for a way to live and they cannot lose at any cost. It is this move that tells me they are worthy of pro status.

"Even the time of resignation is important. Weak players continue the game when they have no hope left. These _kifu_ were over the room in three quadrants. That is important to you, I think," Shiro said as he finished the sorting. Reid was impressed by the adult knowledge and maturity he showed. He wasn't forgetting the conversation any time soon. The quadrants that Shiro mentioned were his main concern now. There were four quadrants on the go board, so it was possible that the crime scene mirrored the board.

"Then this…quadrant where the go board is- nothing was here?" Reid walked over to the four-footed board and examined the stones on its surface. They were centered on the middle point- the point of heaven- in a star design. Heavenly deities played a heavy role in Asian culture and the go board was thought to mirror heaven and earth. "This mark of heaven- do you know why the stones are in a star shape? They're trying to capture each other."

"Yes, if the white stone on the _tengen_ dies, the game is over. This corner of the room- when I entered, there was nothing but the _go-ban_ here. There was no blood, no _kifu_. But you're here to catch this man, not examine go," Shiro said with a suddenly harsh and serious tone. His plain eyes reminded Reid of a pair of blue orbs that had taken him by surprise only a year ago. "You know go, but you do not really know it. You- Chen-_sensei_ said that you are a genius- you do not know how hard we have all worked to reach this point. Even go would come easy to you, but you cannot understand this room like we do."

"Shiro, it's not your place to judge! These guys are here to do their jobs and we're supposed to help them, not make it harder," Shui said when he had heard the conversation. Even as he spoke though, Reid could see that his heart was not into his chastisement. For diplomacy's sake, he stopped Shiro and refused to join him. "I'm sorry about him. He's studied go and has been pressured into coming a pro since he was five. We've all suffered to get here."

"It's alright," Reid said as he watched Shiro leave in an angry and rather upset mood. When the case was finished, he promised himself that he was check up on the boy and talk it over- maybe apologize when his mind was clearer. Right now there was too little time on their hands. "I think I get where he's coming from. Anyways, do you know what he was talking about- about not understanding this room? What's so significant here that we can't understand? I mean, I see that this position on the board is important to the unsub, which is why he didn't dirty it. These game records also have some significance to him."

"That's right, but we see…it's hard to explain what we see, how we see it," Shui said. Suddenly he was nervous and uncomfortable again, nibbling his lower lip and wringing his hands. "This is how I think of this: Unlike chess, the stones in go are all equal, worth an equal amount. They all have the potential to be earth shattering moves or useless sacrifices. Yasunari Kawabata said, 'A masterpiece of a game can be ruined by insensitivity to the feelings of an adversary'. What I see here, beyond the murder, is a man who has lost sight of his goals and the path we all walk.

"Since that path has no end, he has lost hope in it and is trying to make his own path when he can only follow that one. Instead of trying to improve with those stronger and weaker than him, he wants to deviate and has lost respect for his opponents. This loss of respect is what drove him to this. Just as any pro can pick up a game record and see where black and white grew tired, stupid, and greedy, we go players see this in the room. This is a game for the criminal- a game to reach the end of that illustrious, evasive path."

Reid did not live in their world, but he instantly understood what it meant to them when he focused on Shui and his blazing eyes, his clenched fists. For a moment he could completely understand where he was coming from and he could get to know the unsub and his motives. He nodded and both he and Morgan agreed that it was about time that they regrouped with the rest of the team. Just as they were leaving, the detectives passed by with a body bag.

"There might not be shades of grey in go," Shui observed pensively, "but the possibilities of strategy and tactics compensate for it. As simple as the game is, it is one that will be played for years to come- all in search of that perfect game. I think that all go players yearn for that move at least once in their careers. This man- he has forgotten that the divine move must be played by two people and that go is played with two people."

* * *

_**Notes/References:**_

• This story makes references to one of my one-shots, _A Moment, a Lifetime_, both of which are inspired by go. The 2010 US Go Congress is actually taking place in Colorado Springs now, until August 8th, so that was also a source of inspiration. Basically, anything go-related inspired me to write this. XD That includes _Hikaru no Go_. I got most of my information from the Go Congress' website and Sensei's Library.

• I don't own the quotes or the characters and situations influenced by real life or fictional events. Or _Criminal Minds_, for that matter.

• Iwamoto Kaoru is a 9-dan pro go player and former Honinbo holder. The "amateurs' go comes...from suffering" quote is said by Kageyama Toshiro, who wrote _Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go_. The sentence, "just as any pro...this in the room" is a paraphrase of a quote I found on Sensei's Library. The story about the go match during the atomic bomb was also found there. The quote, "a masterpeice of...feelings of an adversary" by Yasunari Kawabata who wrote _The Master of Go_, was found on 's site.

• The _italicized _sentences are the characters speaking Japanese. These are the words that Shiro uses: _kifu_=game record; _go-ban_=go board; _shodan_=first dan; _sensei_=teacher; _tengen_="origin of heaven", the 10-10 point on the board. I didn't explain it in this chapter, but in go players are ranked according to the kyu and dan system. When Shiro says _shodan_, he is talking about a new pro whose current rank is 1-dan, not a player whose _strength_ is 1-dan. More about this in later chapters.

• Some of these games I talk about here reference _Hikaru no Go_, but the games in there are real ones played by various pros. I don't know them. (I just started go, so my ranking is probably off the chart... :p) The _tengen_ star is definitely a reference to the Shindou-Yashiro game, if anyone remembers. The 'path with no end' is also a reference to _Hikaru no Go_. There are also many other references in this chapter. Can you find them all? XD

• The title, 'One Liberty Left' is a reference to _atari_, the state in which your stone is in danger of being cpatured. I am a complete newbie at go, so I do the game no justice. D:


	2. Black on White, White on Black

_**One Liberty Left**_

_**Chapter 2:**__ Black on White, White on Black_

"_That play of black upon white, white upon black, has the intent and takes the form of creative art. It has in it a flow of the spirit and a harmony of music. Everything is lost when suddenly a false note is struck, or one party in a duet suddenly launches forth on an eccentric flight of his own. A masterpiece of a game can be ruined by insensitivity to the feelings of an adversary_" (Yasunari Kawabata)

* * *

_There was a sensation deep within his chest that burned for hours afterwards. Almost brought to tears, he voiced his pain aloud in a quiet room where no one heard his screams. The burn hurt more than loss and disappointment, both familiar emotions. His body shook not from anxiety or anger as it normally did, but from something else that he could not identify. The natural movement that came with the stones was gone._

_That night, until the first stray gleams of dawn struck the land, he created a beautiful picture that haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. Black and white danced across the floor and clashed with terror and finesse until they reached step one hundred and twenty-seven. Their paths diverged and the tremor in his hands ceased. The decisive step changed the music upon its own accord entirely._

_With a scream of emotions he did not know he possessed, he swept the stones off the board and collapsed. Then the cycle started once more and the tremors returned. Outside, everyone slept peacefully as if the world had not wronged them in the slightest. They might be right, he conceded, and I must simply be insane._

* * *

Reid didn't have many words he could or wanted to speak in the aftermath of the explanation that Shui provided. Morgan was equally willing to walk the rest of the distance in silence. There was no doubt in his mind that what Shui said and even to an extent, what Shiro said, was vital to the investigation. There was no better person to understand another go player than these boys, even Reid admitted that. He wasn't a part of their world even though he knew so much about it, which was blaringly obvious to them.

When they arrived at the two apartment rooms that the Association provided them, they found that the rest of the team was already there and waiting. Computers and numerous files were in place along the coffee table and already the clutter was as horrible as it ever was. Without any sort of preamble, Reid and Morgan entered while Hotch started the discussion in his usual manner. That left Shui in an awkward stance in the doorway, but he had enough sense to close the door before they started. Reid offered him a smile and waved for him to take a seat. The boy refused, but Reid wasn't too concerned with him at the moment.

"The people who organize the event are mostly made up of volunteers. They aren't likely to have any reason to commit these murders and they are rather worried about another victim surfacing. When JJ and I talked to the families, they seemed to have no idea as to who could have done this. They said that the men had no true enemies, just rivals," Hotch explained. Reid could tell that the time limit on the case affected him judging by the deep sigh that he exhaled. "The victims were explained as nice people outside of the tournaments. They both preferred to stay to themselves while here, so they retired to their rooms early."

"They were average men with average jobs and shared a hobby in common," Prentiss said, bringing up the windows of their files on the laptop. "That's about all they have in common, as far as Garcia's been able to kind, so it's safe to assume that their participation in the tournament is what got them killed. We got their rankings, although we're still not so sure what the numbers mean, and apparently they were both good players. It's also safe to say that the unsub targeted them based on this. He sees them as threats to him and wants them eliminated."

"Wen Mah's body was taken by the forensics team already, but if the pictures and Ken Hamasaki's body is anything to go by, the unsub made them kill themselves," Morgan said, grim-faced and disgusted. Since he had been occupied with Shiro at the time, Reid was as shocked to hear the news as everyone else. "The single slash across the abdomen was jagged and hesitant. It took a long time for them to finish the cut. Forensics would tell more, but we don't have time for that…What's more, Shui Liu here thinks that it was more than just a forced-suicide."

When the twenty-one year old was placed on the spotlight, Reid was surprised to find that he wasn't uncomfortable with the stares. He figured that Shui was used to the attention from the tournaments. Only when he had to explain Morgan's words further did he start to lose his composure. "Well, when I thought about it, it kind of would make sense if the guy- the criminal- was Japanese. What I mean is that- the whole suicide thing- it's a Japanese thing. It's ritual suicide. Samurai used to do it all the time, when they dishonored themselves. I just thought that it looked like that- like it was from a movie. Uh, I don't mean to sound morbid."

"The whole case is morbid, kid," Rossi said in that cynical tone of his. Shui flushed and shut up, seeming to melt into the background as the gears started to work in the agents' minds. The point was more than valid, if ritual suicide had any relation to the case at all. It wouldn't be unheard of, though, definitely not. They had certainly seen stranger things in their career with fewer motives behind it. "That does make some sense. Reid, you know anything else about it?"

"Oh, yeah, I do. Translated literally, _seppuku _means 'stomach cutting', but we also know it as _hara-kiri_. It's ritual suicide by disembowelment, typically preformed by samurai so that they could die with honor on the battlefield, but it was also used as a form of death sentence for samurai that broke a major offense. Part of the suicide involves decapitation, which is why I didn't think to consider it. A second person involved carried out the decapitation and made it so that the head…" Reid trailed off when everyone gave him that look that said to shut up already. He supposed that they really didn't need to know that the head was supposed to be left hanging by a piece of skin.

"If it was a Japanese person, they would not have left before they cut the head off," Shiro said quietly from the open doorway, as if he'd been there the entire time. Hotch and Rossi didn't seem startled by his appearance, so Reid guessed that he'd been there the entire time and they were too distracted to notice. "Please forgive my rude behavior earlier," he mumbled while he bowed deeply at the waist, quick to straighten to his normal posture after a moment. Someone must have scolded him, because his apology was polite, yet forced, and he didn't sound genuinely sorry. They were ready to forgive him as long as they got back to the matter at hand.

"Right, well the rest of the room was set up to have some meaning or message," Morgan continued quickly, eager to break past the awkward presence that surrounded them. "Shui and I looked at it for awhile and he thought that there was something up with the blood patterns on the floor. At first I thought that it was coincidence, but looking at the other crime scene, they're exactly the same. It's definitely a set up, looking to tell someone something. That someone's probably another player. Practically no one else would have gotten the message. Well, except for Reid. He gets everything."

"I do not," Reid mumbled in defiance, partially in good humor. "There seems to be a message the unsub wants to convey through the papers that were scattered around the room- they're records of games of go. According to Shiro, there doesn't seem to be a real pattern to them. Some are of games that professionals played, some by amateurs. Another thing to note is that the go board in the corner of the room was completely untouched and clean. The stones were arranged around the middle, which is an important position."

"Some of the games were played a long time ago," Shiro said. He seemed rather comfortable with his input now that he was forgiven for the moment. "They are records of games from over a hundred years ago. All of them are well known in the world of go for one reason or another, but some are recent. The stones were arranged on the _tengen_, but the _tengen _is not only a position, but a title also in go. The Chinese and Japanese have it."

"Oh, titles are earned by professionals and are competed for the duration of a year. Annually, a match is held to decide whether the challenger defeats the current holder or if the title is defended. Titles are coveted and it's a big achievement to obtain one," Reid explained when he realized that only three people in the room knew what it was. The looks on his teammate's faces told him that he didn't need to be so descriptive, but they were used to it and brushed the matter off easily. Shui and Shiro were just as surprised as Reid normally found people he met to be.

"We can definitely class this unsub as an organized killer with a high intelligence," Hotch said, nodding firmly. It was his intent to start the profile now, which surprised Reid. So they weren't going to involve the officials of the event after all. That meant that they were also involving Shui and Shiro more than they had intended. "He's chosen these victims for a reason and planned everything out beforehand. Some of the requirements may be lacking, but he plays this game so he's obviously intelligent. There is no formal investigation, but he should be trying to find out about it. He takes joy in seeing his game being played out, because that is all that this is to him: a game."

"Judging by what Shui told me before I think that he has an overlap of a visionary killer, but mainly a missionary killer, actually…" Reid said, relaying what the twenty-one year old had told them about the man and his motives. Shui was genuinely shocked that what he had said was so important. The reaction was so astonished that Reid figured that Shui had merely told them his opinion and thought that they would forget it soon. "The unsub might be aiming for the 'move of god' or the perfect move in a game of go, but in doing so he believes that he has to eliminate his opponents. They're standing in his way."

"So you're saying that he's trying to stray from the path of tradition by making his own?" Prentiss addressed Reid. He nodded; it was the best explanation that he could think of that made sense. None of the other profiles quite fit the situation. "And in other words, since he's a missionary killer, he won't stop until he's gotten rid of the threat. Since his mission is self-imposed, he isn't likely to listen to reason. And he's got an entire pool of possible victims to choose from here."

"We might not be able to reason with him at all," Rossi pointed out. "That should reflect in his daily life. He'll be the type of person who's a normal guy until he's set off. If things don't work his way, he's likely to react badly and possibly violently. He thinks that he's alone in the world, and that no one can understand his motives, but despite this, he'll be socially adequate. As a child, he might have received harsh discipline. One or both parents might not have been present. As for what got him to start thinking like this, he probably had a loss of faith recently. Some sort of revelation happened for him."

"He also doesn't see his victims as human beings anymore. To him, they're just objects that are either in his way or only useful for his own purpose," Hotch said. In the process of the explanation, the team's eyes gradually turned towards the two younger boys in the room. Shui blinked and figured out quickly that the speeches were meant for his and Shiro's ears. The idea didn't make him very comfortable, but he handled it considerably better than it could have gone.

"Ah, well, um…You see, I don't really know many of the players on a personal level. I'm actually an amateur, a high dan amateur, but one nonetheless. We amateurs play for fun; go is a pastime, a hobby. It's more to the pros; it's their life. That's why I think you should be asking Shiro that," Shui babbled, stopping only to present the Japanese boy before him. Shiro sputtered indignantly and looked as if he wished to be anywhere but there. "He turned pro last year with a rather good record. And only four or five people become pros each year. I'll leave you to it, bye!"

That left Shiro in an awkward stance at the center of attention. Without a go board to focus on, he was quite uncomfortable with the attention. "I-I do not know anyone who could be a murderer. Some of us get too emotional sometimes, but not like that…None of us disrespect each other enough to do that." The fierce boy that Reid had talked to before wasn't there anymore and it was scary watching this version of him speak in compliant tones. Everyone noticed that something was wrong, but they would probably scare him away if they all questioned him now.

"Alright, you can go. We'll keep in contact. You're in room two hundred twenty-seven, right?" JJ said in that soothing voice of hers. Shiro's eyes flickered upwards for a moment before they lowered and he nodded. With a short bow that was executed more from instinct than anything else, he was out the door. Even with the barrier, Reid could hear his footsteps' rapid retreat down the hallway. The subject wasn't about to be dropped anytime soon and Reid expected that he would have to pay a visit to the boy later and talk something out of him.

"He knows something," Hotch muttered as he turned to their blonde-haired liaison. "JJ, inform the staff about the profile. It might not be much help, but there's always the chance that they've seen someone who fits it. In the meantime, I believe that we have something to discuss here- Shiro Minami. From what little that we've seen of him, it seems that even under pressure and attention he doesn't seem too bad off. He doesn't ramble, he doesn't stutter, he doesn't lie; he just states the facts. What changed just now?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, earlier he said 'the Chinese and Japanese have it' when we were discussing the stones on the go board," Reid said hurriedly, excited at the sudden prospect if his hand movements were anything to judge by. "Except Shiro is Japanese, so why would he refer to the Chinese first? The two countries aren't known to have the best relations among its people, especially in the ones involved in War World Two. From what I saw and heard before, he seems to be an assertive kid. He's not meek or anything- he just became like this now."

"He even gave Reid a scolding," Morgan chuckled to which Reid shot him a glare. He admitted that it wasn't a very intimidating glare- he never could pull those off easily. "But Reid's right. He stormed out in a huff afterwards and he seemed more angry than upset. Maybe someone talked to him between then. He's just a kid. He can be swayed easily."

"Also, he did make a comment about that ritual suicide…That a Japanese person would have done it differently," Prentiss said. Whatever secrets Shiro was hiding were either a waste of their precious time or the key to finding the unsub in the sea of players across the campus. There wasn't a doubt that Shui was telling the truth when he said that he didn't know everybody. He came from a town where go was unknown and could hardly be called prevalent. "Then again, I have a feeling that it's common knowledge."

"Either way, we can't waste time thinking about this. Reid, you know the kid a little more than us and you know his game, so try to talk something out of him. The rest of us will talk with the officials and try to narrow the list down," Hotch said. Immediately the team started to leave, readily following orders. "Keep an eye out for suspicious activity. We might attract attention, which might attract the unsub. We might not be able to keep this quiet much longer. Time's running out; soon it'll be dark."

Reid snatched up his messenger bag and departed down the hallway opposite of the others. Both boys had been asked to remain in the vicinity of their rooms so that they would be easy to contact. There was no doubt in his mind that finding someone on campus would be treacherous at best. There were over three hundred attendees, after all, and most of them were gathered in specific spots during the day.

The first three knocks on door number three hundred twenty-seven went unnoticed by its occupant. Shiro was definitely in there; Reid heard the soft clack of stones against wood beyond the door, so he was just ignoring him. "Shiro, this is Spencer Reid. I need to talk to you about the investigation. Do you have a minute?" Sure, the interview would take far more than a minute, but lying came hand in hand with the job. For a moment, Reid feared that he would have to think of some other plan before he heard the stones stop. The soft footsteps were a relief to him. Shiro would be much easier to talk to without getting off on the wrong foot.

"Have time for a quick game?" the boy muttered. He allowed Red entrance and sharply reminded him to remove his shoes before he stepped any further than three feet into the room. There was simply no other route to talking to the boy, so Reid accepted and made no excuses to himself; he really did want to play. Maybe, when this was over, he would have some more time for it where he would actually be able to put his all into the game. Right now he had to focus on profiling and it seemed that Shiro realized it too. "We play speed go?"

"Yeah, we're playing speed go," Reid nodded as he settled down on a cushion placed before the heavy wooden go board that was easily over a thousand dollars. He ran a gentle hand over the smooth surface as Shiro passed him the black stones. A stone plucked from the container showed that it was made of slate and felt cool to the touch. Usually Reid played with the more economical types of boards and stones since he played chess more than go. "This is quality wood called _kaya_, right? They're very expensive; you play every day?"

"Oh, no, that is just _shin-kaya_, even if it is a good imitation. The real one is too expensive. Place your stone and you will see the difference," Shiro said softly, amused with the board and not with Reid's assumption. He nodded and the black stone made a lovely resonating sound on the board, yet not quite at the right frequency for it to be made of the highest quality wood. "Before you ask your questions, may I ask one of mine? I have been curious of it for quite some time."

"Oh, sure, that'll be fine," Reid said, regretful that he wouldn't be able to devote his full attention on the game. The rapid click-clack of the stones left barely any room for thinking. Fast games of go relied on instinct more than extreme thinking and careful planning- and even as he made his quick decisions, his mind analyzed the positions that Shiro played on the board. The moves themselves could be just as revealing as the person's body. Reid preferred a more conservative play that concentrated on territory as opposed to this somewhat artistic style that Shiro seemed to like.

"Have you ever met Touya Akira?" Shiro paused in his play and actually glanced upwards when he spoke. Reid drew a blank for a moment before he remembered little Akira, the genius boy he once played on a whim. That must have been nearly a year ago, though he didn't see why it mattered to Shiro. It was very possible that Shiro knew the prodigy. It was almost impossible to be one and remain unnoticed in such a small world. The little boy must be eleven or twelve by now, Reid figured. "He said that he played a strong foreigner when some pro players from the _Nihon Ki-in_ came to America."

"He was speaking about me?" Reid said in surprise, almost ready to drop the game. Shiro wasn't so willing and tapped the board with a finger. They exchanged a few middle game fights across the board that Reid found to flow in patterns he wasn't accustomed towards. The boy's style was very flexible, but he wasn't passively following Reid's advances in the least. Instead, he grabbed any open opportunities he could manage and readily reacted when attacked.

"I believe so. Touya said that there was a strong player in America who said that he did not play often. His play was solid and he used few unnatural moves. Reading ahead also seemed to be his strong point. But despite all of this, Touya said that he did not seem to have the same passion for the game that we, who work our entire lives for that strength, have." Shiro voiced his opinion in a calm, undisturbed manner that was more reminiscent of the boy Reid first met. The little speech he made proved further that something had happened before he rejoined them in their rooms.

"After that, he dropped it like everything else. Touya is different than we are. He was never a student at the _Nihon Ki-in_; he does not participate in competitions. He is a prodigy and he can beat pros even though he is only twelve. People have been urging him to become a pro for a year now. His father is Touya _Meijin_," Shiro said bitterly. The stone he placed next resounded with a slightly louder sound than the rest of them. If Reid hadn't looked up from the board at that moment he would have missed the softened features on the boy's face that told that he held no true animosity towards Akira.

The other information that Shiro provided was expected, yet at the same time still a shock and amazement. Reid knew that Akira was strong, but not strong enough to beat pros when he was only twelve. It was not unheard of in the world of go; some children became pros when they were only eleven, but the phenomenon was still uncommon. A year ago Reid had his suspicions that a relative of Akira's played the game, but he hadn't a clue that his father was the _Meijin_- one of the titles that the strongest players held in Japan. Even then, it wouldn't have been much of a shock if he was a student at the Japanese Go Institute- they often produced good pro players.

"You don't hate him as much as you would like to believe. You just envy that everything comes easier for him than anyone else," Reid observed. Shiro paused, but nodded after he considered the words. Still, Reid didn't sense any sort of rivalry between the two boys, which was a slight disappointment. That meant that Akira only ever played people older than he was and it made the world very lonely for a child. Reid could sympathize.

"He still refuses to become a pro, but he works just as hard as everyone else. It is like he has some unfinished business, but I cannot imagine what. I hoped that you were reason, the but that is not the case. Your play is nothing so remarkable that Touya would care too much," Shiro said, starting Reid with his blunt words. The hitch in the placement in his stone must have alerted the boy, because he glanced upwards and muttered an apology. "Never mind- Touya is in his own world; I do not have a right to meddle. What do you want to ask?"

"Earlier, when we were discussing the stones arranged around the _tengen_- the mark of heaven- you said, 'the Chinese and Japanese have it' and you meant the title of _tengen_. But you're Japanese, aren't you?" Reid didn't even need to finish his thoughts for Shiro to understand what he was talking about. The boy froze as his hand hovered over the board and he refused to show his face, instead choosing to hide himself behind a curtain of floppy dark brown hair. "Why do you put the Chinese before yourself? It wasn't a conscious choice and I don't think that it's out of manners. You seem to have a lot of pride."

"I…I do not know. Do we know why we do what we do?" Shiro mumbled, fumbling with the sleeves on his shirt. Reid recognized the movements as nervous habits, which further supported his idea that the boy was hiding something important. Children were generally a little easier to grapple the truth from than adults, although they could be tough in their own rights. "Chinese and Korean players are strong. They are stronger than Japanese players, in recent times. Is it so wrong that I hold them in high regard?"

"You're lying; you know exactly why you refer to them before yourself. You nibble on your bottom lip and fumble with your clothes. You refuse to meet my eyes when you did before. Instead of being confident, your voices changes to become less noticeable." Reid would have continued a little further for good effect if his phone hadn't rung at that moment. Shiro seemed to have paled slightly and grew more nervous. He stared intently at the stones without seeming to be developing any ideas. His hands now moved to clench into fists on his knees.

Reid glanced at his phone and excused himself from the room. Garcia was on the other line and it wouldn't do for just anyone to hear their conversation. "Garcia, you found something?" he asked with his back against the door.

"_**Oh, you know I did,**_" she responded in her light and teasing voice. "_**I doubt it's nothing. Things like this aren't just coincidences. Alright, I'm going to fire away here- tell me if I lose you, even though I know you're too smart for that. Shui Liu is still clean, even when I dug a little more into him. Shiro Minami is a little strange though and strange in the 'this-is-messed-up' sort of way. At first glance, he lives with his parents in Tokyo in a small house in the suburbs- nothing special.**_

"_**Then it got weird when I dug. Apparently he has an older brother- one Hideki Minami who was completely disconnected from the family about two years ago. He just disappeared for awhile- but he was really living up north in some small town with friends. And it turns out that he wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be in a mental hospital slash juvenile prison until he was killed six months ago. So obviously he's not going anymore.**_

"_**Then some more digging later and I eventually found that he was dropped from the professional go program for a major misdemeanor. This is where things get messy- partially because these records are in Japanese…But Hideki wasn't of the nicest mental state for his whole childhood it seems, judging by all these doctors bills…The misconduct was beating another player an inch to his death. The family disregarded him after that. This isn't the end either. So the player he beat up was Chao Zhang, a then Japanese citizen who came from China to study when he was ten. He's since moved to America.**_

"_**Chao Zhang isn't at the convention though. His younger brother Lin, who is two years older than Shiro, is however. He's been reported to have some problems at school; nothing major, though.**_" The information was a lot to process through the brain. After Garcia had stopped talking for a few moments, Reid finally gathered his thoughts into a collective ball that made sense. There really was too much evidence for the matter to be considered coincidence. "_**And never fear: I have already called the others and they are on their way to questioning Lin.**_"

"Thanks Garcia, I think I'm getting this all now…" Reid said as he flipped his phone closed. With a deep breath he returned inside to find that Shiro had relaxed considerably and had returned to his pensive mood in front of the go board. "Shiro, I have to talk to you. You know something, something important. And I know that you don't want to tell me. You're afraid of the consequences." Reid took his seat across the playing field and spoke in gentle tones. He wanted to make it clear that it wasn't Shiro's fault. In what was normally not protocol in a game, he reached over and offered the boy a friendly hand. "You can tell me."

"I will tell you if you can beat me," Shiro whispered, scooping up a smooth white stone. Bypassing Reid's outstretched arm, he very softly slid the piece into place at an intersection. The move took Reid by surprise and he consented. Children, he found, were often stubborn with their games.

* * *

_**Notes/References:**_

• First of all, I apologize if the explanations were sparse or confusing in the last chapter. I wanted to explain it further without detracting from the storyline and getting side tracked. I hope that I did better this time around.

• I do not own the quotes, the C_riminal Minds _characters, or Touya Akira, who comes from _Hikaru no Go_. A bit about Touya: He doesn't really take notice of people who challenge him who are weaker than he is and he finds Reid's style as nothing special because Reid seems like a to-the-book person. So he hasn't deviated (thinking outside of the box) from the standards of play. For example, Shiro is an experimentalist. He doesn't always play the moves that are expected from that situation, but Reid does.

• Again, the italics are Japanese words. The bold and italics are Garcia talking over the phone. Mini dictionary: _seppuku/hara-kiri_='stomach cutting' ritual suicide by disembowelment, finishes with an assistant beheading the samurai; _tengen_='origin of heaven', the 10-10 point on the board, and a title; _kaya_=Japanese nutmeg-yew, expensive wood used to make go boards, can cost from $1,000-$20,000; _shin-kaya_='new kaya', imitation kaya, usually spruce and cheaper; _Nihon Ki-in_=Japanese Go Institute; _Meijin_=another title

• Thanks to USPP Criminal Psychology Study Group Index for being able to form that profile and to Sensei's Library for information on everything about go.

• Shiro's playing style was heavily influenced by the pros' styles observed on SL: Yu Ch'ang-hyeok, Shao Zhenzhong, and Ma Xiaochun.

• The last sentence is a reference to _Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler_.

• Nothing is meant to be offensive here.

• 'A hundred and twenty-seven' in the opening paragraphs references the famous Ear Reddening Move played by Honinbo Shusaku- it was move 127.


	3. A Matter of Fate

_**One Liberty Left**_

_**Chapter 3:**__ A Matter of Fate  
_

"_Whether you win a game or lose it is a matter of fate at the time. What really counts is whether or not you played good moves_" (Kajiwara Takeo)

_Their world wasn't as black and white as the stones on the board. The amount of games that could be played, the possibilities on the surface of three hundred and sixty-one intersections were infinite. There was something about those possibilities that entranced him beyond words. There existed no greater joy in his life than to learn that he had improved, even if by the smallest increment. When he played, he could forget the past and the worries that plagued his days._

_Tonight there would be no such peace of mind. The shadows were after his blood and the secrets of the board that such a tainted soul would never reach or understand. The empty room suffocated him until he couldn't find his breath anymore. Such a selfish thing I am, he thought, to wish in vain that I can live when I am already dead. There was no honor in that and it yielded no pride. The best would be to quietly resign, except this time he wasn't waking up again._

_He had been blinded in his time of weakness and without his sight the opponent slowly crawled and surrounded him until he could grasp at arms that bound his body. No matter how far he read into the game, there was no positive outcome, no chance of winning. There was nothing to attack, nothing to defend. There were no moves he could make that would offset his opponent. He had not felt this vulnerability, this complete lack of control over his actions, since he played the reigning Kisei after he passed the pro examination._

_He was scared. He was scared, but found some consolation in the knowledge that he wouldn't die until he made his move. Lost as he was, his opponent had the courtesy to wait, even if he spent that time tormenting him. There was only one path that he could walk and that path now led to death. He refused to cry until he reached the end._

_

* * *

_

Reid understood how Shiro was a professional at such a young age. Despite the pressure he felt from Reid and the dread that seemed to take over his features, Shiro played like nothing was wrong in the world. Whatever emotions he had revealed to Reid before were gone and replaced with a calm and steely exterior. The control over his emotions wasn't the only give away. Shiro played stones in places Reid would rarely think about. His groups of stones were elegant in shape and hard to attack, let alone kill.

It was a general rule that 'weak' groups died unless they were reinforced, but Reid could hardly find room to do so. He found himself losing by a small margin in the middle game and remembered Gideon's words. If he didn't think outside of the box, he wouldn't win, not against Shiro. What was not strange more than it was admirable, Shiro did not have the genius gift for the game that Akira had, yet he was one of the toughest opponents Reid ever faced.

When his phone rang, Reid contemplated between taking the call and continuing the game. They were well over a hundred moves into the rapid-fire match. He chose to let the message go to voicemail. The game wasn't going to continue all the way into the end game, that much he could tell. Since they made their decisions so fast, they were making some mistakes that normally wouldn't appear. The next few moves were earth-shattering.

"…I resign…" Morgan wouldn't let Reid ever live this down, he was sure, but the honorable thing was to resign after such a harsh battle had taken place. The weak groups that Shiro had were impossible to kill without risking his own, one of which was already dead. There were no other opportunities left on the board, no more liberties to fill. Without words, they scooped the stones into their respective containers until the board was clear again. "You know that I'll have to ask you anyways." Shiro nodded. "Have you spoken to Lin Zhang since the Congress started? Did you notice anything off about him?"

"Yes, I spoke to him. He is bitter and he deserves to be," Shiro said quietly, again that strangely meek version of himself. Even though he did not meet Reid's eyes, he wasn't lying. Reid hadn't even told the boy about what he knew, but Shiro withheld no illusions. "He does not like me. He said that the Chinese are better players, which I agreed with. Lin is not a Chinese player; he is an American player. He is not a pro and does not desire to be one anymore. Still, he was angry that I said that, even though I told my opinion and did not lie."

"Did Lin Zhang murder Wen Mah and Ken Hamasaki?" Reid kept his thoughts to himself and considered the facts. Even when he rejoined the team, he would have to bring Shiro with him. It seemed that Lin Zhang might be building up to some sort of revenge and if they couldn't hold him, Shiro might just be his next target. It was possible that he was aiming for that 'road' that Shui Liu talked about earlier until his brother was injured. "Did you see him on the night of the murder?"

"I…no," Shiro said with a shake of his head. Reid frowned and inched closer when he caught the blatant lie in his voice. Shiro didn't bother to cover up his blunder and for the first time, allowed his shoulders to slump. Just to keep his hands busy it seemed, he took both containers of black and white stones and began placing them on the board. Reid recognized the action as replaying a game. He had an eidetic memory, so things like that were easy for him, but it took normal people a lot of time to be able to remember entire games. For the most part, pros were able to do so. It looked as if Shiro had replayed this game many times, though. There was no falter in the placement.

"We both know that you're lying. You don't have to feel obligated to protect him. What your brother did and who you are…those are completely different matters. Lin is killing innocent people, people that live in the same world as you and when Lin finally breaks, he's going to go after his real target: you. He may have told you that you owe him, but it doesn't condone murder. Remember the profile: he only sees the people around him as expendable pawns. This is a game to him and he's only getting more enjoyment watching everyone around him suffer. Now, did Lin Zhang murder Wen Mah and Ken Hamasaki?"

"That is why I dislike chess." Shiro laughed weakly until it died down into soft, barely audible sobs. When teardrops fell onto the board's smooth, pale golden surface, he hastily wiped them away and rubbed at his eyes. Reid gave him a sympathetic gaze so that he knew he wasn't alone. The boy responded with a small, quivering smile. "I am used to it- crying that is. Until you have experienced many tears, you do not reach _shodan_…But this time, I am scared beyond my ability to understand. I know that I am weak and that I am blinded, but I do not want to die. I do not want him to kill me. I am selfish."

"You aren't selfish for wanting to live," Reid said, caution in his voice. Shiro was delicate emotionally now, no matter what front he tried to put up as a shield. He was also making references to go, not just his own fear. Reid had long known that go was how he expressed himself. "He was just manipulating you, making you believe him and bend to his will. And this is real life; things are a little more difficult than on the board. Remember, Lin doesn't have any more honor. He doesn't respect people anymore."

"He did kill them; he told me that he did," Shiro said in a voice that barely surpassed a whisper. His shaky fingers ghosted over the stones with a strange sense of reverence. "I saw him come out from the rooms, but he told me not to tell. And I did not tell anyone; I played into his trap…" anger directed at himself was laced through the shaky breaths the boy took. He met Reid in the eyes and directed him towards the board. "Hey, this game, do you know how famous it is? I can never bring myself to play past the hundred and twenty-seventh move because the rest is simple compared to this."

Obligingly, Reid observed the board and instantly recognized the record. "Honinbo Shusaku is considered to be one of the best players in history. This is the game he played against Inseki Gennan, with Shusaku as black. This move had superior influence over the entire board." Shiro nodded, for once without anything to add to Reid's explanation. With a deep sigh, he swept all the stones off the board and replaced them in their containers. "Shiro, I need you to come with me. My teammates might not be able to hold him until I get them your confession."

"He is not after me yet," Shiro said, a sudden flare of anxiety flowing through his body. Now tense, he flung a desperate glace at Reid and then the door. Fists clenched, he took a few moments to regain his breath. Already, before he could talk again, Reid was rushing him out the door and down the hallway. "He said that he would take away someone important to me first. There is no one here that I treasure more than my rival. We fight sometimes and pretend to hate each other, but we're important to each other. I think he knows that something is strange between me and Zhang. His intuition is very good. His name is Ayumu, Hashimoto Ayumu."

"Right," Reid said, fumbling for his phone, his fingers searching for the speed-dial. There was not time for thinking now. "Hotch, Shiro Minami said that Lin Zhang told him that he murdered those victims and he witnessed him exiting the rooms. We have reason to believe that he's after his friend, Ayumu Hashimoto next. He might not wait until night now that you've questioned him. Alright, we'll meet you there." Reid shoved his phone into his pocket just as they reached the stairs. "Shiro, where's the tournament hall? Where's your friend?"

"He is not my friend…" Shiro muttered before he ran ahead and out of the building into the dull light of the late afternoon without pause. Dusk would fall over the campus soon. "He is playing a three-on-one simultaneous game now. He was going to visit me afterwards, but he should not be done yet, I hope. If I know him, he might just finish the game quickly so that he can check on me. For a long time he was very worried. I promised that I would tell him."

"You do seem to be pretty good friends. Friends care about each other," Reid said. They were approaching the glass doors now and wasted no time entering the building. Though the gun on his hip would attract attention, Reid didn't have the time for being subtle. Lin already knew that law enforcement was here and after him. Still, the tournament hall acted as if nothing was wrong when they entered. Reid forced Shiro to slow down as he headed for a back corner of the room where the simultaneous games were held. Shiro talked with a volunteer while Reid headed over towards his teammates in the distance.

"This is Lin Zhang's file. He was adamant about not knowing anything about the murders and without any evidence, we had to let him go," Hotch explained. Reid glanced at the picture, which was all he would need right now. "No one's seen him since this morning's tournament. The team's looking for him now. You're sure that he's after Shiro Minami's friend first? Since he's pressured, he might just go for Shiro next, if he's Lin's real target."

"Lin seems to like torturing Shiro mentally more than he wants to kill him, actually," Reid said as they kept a watchful eye on the Japanese boy. "Lin wants to cause him pain, but even if he gets caught, he might just be satisfied with causing Shiro the greatest pain of all: losing someone close to him. We've interrupted his plans, but it should be more satisfying for him to kill Ayumu Hashimoto anyways. He's a go player; he knows how to pick his battles."

"Ayumu is not here. But we did not see him when we entered!" Shiro said in a clearly upset and frantic voice. As Reid headed over to him, he caught his usage of his rival's first name, which meant that they had to be close. The Japanese normally used surnames to address each other unless they were good friends. The composure that Shiro had wielded in the game against Reid and the words exchanged before and after was gone. All Reid saw left was a young boy scared for his friend's life rather than his own. It was rather noble, he thought, but useless if they couldn't stop Lin.

"Calm down; the agents you met before are looking for Lin Zhang now. We're going to look too," Hotch said with a troubled frown on his face. Reid knew that he was unhappy with the arrangements. It would be better and safer if they could bring Shiro to a disclosed location, but they had not the time to do so. Shiro wouldn't have gone along quietly, he knew, not with his personality unmarred by Lin's influence. The fire in his eyes shone beneath his fear and trembling body. "Stay close to us. Is there anywhere Ayumu would have gone? Has he ever talked to Zhang?"

"Ayumu has never met him and he would not have gone anywhere else. He was too worried, that is why he played his games so fast today. Usually he takes his time to think," Shiro said. After a quick survey of the room yielded no results, Hotch and Reid started for the doorway after they had a word with the tournament officials. The boy ran to catch up, reluctant to remain behind Reid and seemingly irritated that Hotch had called Ayumu by his first name, if his scowl had anything to do with it. If the situation weren't so dire, Reid would have cracked a smile.

The first beginnings of darkness that were covering the campus made Reid check for his flashlight, just in case the chase carried on into the night. Both he and Hotch knew that it was too dangerous to drag Shiro into the situation fully. They wouldn't give Lin what he wanted. It was beyond difficult to explain that to Shiro, who fought and fought until the adults relented. That wasn't actually the case, since Reid was just going to take Shiro somewhere safer while Hotch searched, but the boy didn't need to know that. Reid wouldn't put it past him to figure it out eventually.

With the argument, there was hardly any light left in the sky. Occasionally, Reid would catch glimpses of the artificial light that came from his teammates. By this time, some of the competitors and spectators were dispersing the tournament halls and heading for the apartments. When there were enough people around, Reid deemed it safer than standing in the corner on the look-out. By that time, Shiro also seemed to notice the trick that had been played and made a disgruntled face. He didn't argue anymore, surprisingly. "You're calm."

"Getting upset and angry at something I cannot change does not help," Shiro mumbled, shifting from foot to foot. Judging by the number of times he switched seats in the lobby, he was clearly agitated. The acceptance would have been suspicious any other time when he requested to go to the bathroom, except Reid was too accustomed to his ways in go. The understanding that had aided him now made him fall for such an obvious trick. Of course, go or no go, Shiro was a teenage boy whose good friend was in danger of being killed; he wouldn't just accept that even if he knew that he could make no difference.

Reid was almost panicking when he finally got Morgan on the other end of the connection, only to find out that Lin had a rather sharp knife pointed at Ayumu's throat. Since he hadn't been taken down yet, the shot must have been too hard to make or would have jostled the knife too much. The maze of clues and evidence that Lin had passed by led the agents on a wild chase that would have perhaps been better if Reid had gone along. Now he stood outside the apartments without Shiro and a deadly confrontation somewhere around another building.

With the aid of his flashlight, Reid managed to catch a glimpse of movement. It was really his luck that it was moving towards the building he was also going towards. That was probably Shiro, if he could take a wild guess. The only hope he had at the moment was for Shiro to maintain the same instincts that gave him the power to best Reid in the game they played. Shiro could tell apart a losing situation and he should've known to avoid it, especially with a knife and guns involved.

Ten minutes later, after having wound up on the wrong side of the building, found Reid running into the confrontation that had apparently come out of the standstill it once was. He groaned upon seeing Prentiss with her arms around Shiro, who was struggling with all his might. It was a rather good thing that he spent his days sitting before a go board, Reid thought with dry sarcasm, because that meant that he was rather weak of body. Against Prentiss, he stood no chance for all his efforts. It was just their luck that both boys were from Japan when the association had wanted to avoid this international disaster.

"_You are too hot-headed, Shiro._" Ayumu spoke with utmost caution and offered his friend a small smile though his body trembled with fear. The words seemed to pass through Shiro's head unheeded, yet at the same time he clung to them as if they were Ayumu's last. Lin snarled at the Japanese words and tilted the knife just a slight bit further. Reid couldn't see in the dark, but there had to have been blood. "_Remember that you don't play with your emotions. Have you already forgotten that? That's why you lose to me so much._"

"Let him go! Do you not want me instead? _Ayumu, you lose to me just as much! How can you talk to freely when he's got a __**knife**__ at your throat?_" Shiro snarled. His voice hitched as he spoke, but he was too stubborn to let it show any more than it already was. There were definitely tears across his face. Reid regretted not understanding him, because the words seemed to bother Lin and that could have helped. If he understood what the boys were saying…

"Lin, you don't want it to end this way," Hotch said with caution, staring the crazed man in the eyes. To emphasize that he wished only for peace, Hotch slowly placed his gun on the ground and raised his hands in the air, harmless. That didn't change the fact that two other agents had their guns pointed at him, but Lin seemed willing to listen at least. "You're angry, angry at Hideki Minami, because he hurt your brother. That's understandable, but Hideki's dead. You're not angry at Shiro. Shiro has nothing to do with this. He just reminds you of Hideki.

"Nothing's going to change if you take your revenge here. You're not going to feel any better; just like killing all those other people didn't make you feel any better. Maybe you got some satisfaction, for a brief moment, but it was gone before you knew it. That's why you killed again," Hotch said. Lin tensed as the agent drew closer, but the words Hotch said struck something deep inside him and made him pause and hesitate. The knife was still too close to Ayumu's neck for them to make any sort of move and it was still too early to consider this a victory.

"You were never after the Hand of God, were you?" Ayumu said when the realization had dawned on him. Lin tensed and Ayumu whimpered. Shiro almost tried to resist Prentiss' hold on him again until Ayumu continued. "What we aim for is the Hand of God, in the end. You were never after that? You were never on the same plane as us. So you were just imitating our life, but you lack the passion of your own. Go is not about reckless revenge. We all just want to live."

Lin snarled, as if vehemently denying the accusation. If Reid hadn't glanced over towards Shiro, he would have completely missed the shocked and terrified expression on his face. Then Ayumu started talking and Reid understood why Shiro had been startled so suddenly. He knew Ayumu better than anyone else and could read his moves. "I can live. You cannot kill me. I have two eyes, unclouded and able to see the truth. You are half-blind; you cannot win. There is no place to run. You are not an amateur; do not needlessly die when you can resign."

"Ayumu," Shiro snarled, tears obstructing his voice. For a moment, everyone waited with baited breath for Lin to respond. Ayumu, surprisingly, appeared the calmest of the three boys. Reid wanted to do something, not just stand there with his useless gun outstretched, so he eased Shiro away from Prentiss and held him close. Under any other circumstances, the boy would have started and insisted on being released, Reid knew. He didn't seem to care so much about his reserved nature now.

"I…I resign."

Two words never meant so much.

* * *

_**Notes/References:**_

• This is my buffer chapter I forgot about. Oooops.

• Kisei is a title able to be played for in Japan, much like the Meijin or Honinbou.

• The next chapter...will be written over winter break, when I plan to get back into go. Unfortunately for me, this story is far too complicated to write on a whim.


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